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Abstract:

A method and apparatus for sending information to a data processing
apparatus for identifying a document to share with a recipient. A
handheld device is capable of communicating with the data processing
apparatus. Information is captured from the document and stored in the
handheld device as document data. A communications path is established
between the handheld device and the data processing apparatus. The
document data is sent to the data processing apparatus through the
communications path. Reference documents are provided. Each reference
document has reference data stored in a memory. At least a portion of the
received document data is extracted as scanning data. The reference data
is retrieved from the memory. The scanning data is compared with the
reference data. When the scanning data matches at least a portion of the
reference data of one of the reference documents, the one reference
document is selected as the identified document for forwarding to the
recipient.

Claims:

1. A method comprising: storing a plurality of reference documents in a
memory device, including storing reference data for each reference
document of the plurality of reference documents, wherein the reference
data comprises data representing human-readable content from an
associated reference document of the plurality of reference documents,
wherein the human-readable content includes actual content from the
associated reference document of the plurality of reference documents;
receiving, at a data processing system from a mobile device in
communication with the data processing system, digital audio data
captured by the mobile device from audio voice signals identifying actual
content of a source document, wherein the digital audio data comprises
digital data converted from the audio voice signals; extracting at least
a portion of the digital audio data as scanning data; retrieving the
reference data for at least one reference document from the memory
device; comparing the scanning data with the retrieved reference data,
wherein comparing the scanning data with the retrieved reference data
includes comparing human-language content in the scanning data with
actual text content in the retrieved reference data of the at least one
reference document; if comparing the scanning data with the retrieved
reference data indicates at least the portion of the scanning data
matches at least a portion of the retrieved reference data, identifying
the at least one reference document of the plurality of reference
documents associated with the matched at least a portion of the retrieved
reference data as being the same document as the source document.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the scanning data includes data
identifying a name of the source document.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the scanning data includes data
identifying at least one of the author, title and reference number of the
source document.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the memory device is a remote storage
device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying, when the
scanning data matches at least a portion of the reference data associated
with a second reference document of the plurality of reference documents,
the second reference document as an alternative identified document; and
sending at least a portion of the alternative identified document to the
mobile device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: receiving an indication
from the mobile device indicating the at least a portion of the at least
one reference document or the at least a portion of the second reference
document as being equivalent to the source document.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending at least a portion of
the at least one reference document to the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the sending comprises: attaching the
identified at least one reference document to an e-mail message, and
sending the e-mail message to a data processing system.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of sending includes sending
the identified at least one reference document to a receiving address.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of sending includes sending
an image of at least a portion of at least one reference document.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of
receiving, retrieving, comparing and identifying are performed by a data
processing system of a server connected to the mobile device by a
wireless network connection.

13. A method comprising: capturing digital audio data regarding a
document utilizing a mobile device, wherein the digital audio data
comprises audio data representing actual content from the document;
establishing a communications path between the mobile device and a data
processing system; sending the captured digital audio data from the
mobile device to the data processing system via the communications path;
and receiving, at the mobile device from the data processing system, data
representing at least a portion of the actual content of the document.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of receiving includes
receiving the entire document.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving at least a
portion of a reference document as an alternative identified document;
and sending at least a portion of the alternative identified document to
the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising: receiving an indication
from the mobile device indicating the at least a portion of the
alternative identified document as being equivalent to the document.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the entire document is sent to address
data provided by the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 13 further comprising storing the captured
digital audio data in a memory of the mobile device.

21. The method of claim 13 further comprising storing the captured
digital audio data in a remote storage device.

22. The method of claim 13 further wherein the captured digital audio
data includes data identifying at least one of the author, title and
reference number of the source document.

23. A data processing system for identifying one of a plurality of
reference documents from information received from a handheld device in
communication with the data processing system, the data processing system
coupled to the data network and each reference document having reference
data, the data processing system comprising: at least one memory device
in which a plurality of instructions are stored; and a processor coupled
to the at least one memory device and capable of executing instructions
in the memory device to: (i) access the reference data in the at least
one memory device, and (ii) receive the information from the handheld
device, wherein the information comprises data scanned from a document by
the handheld device, wherein execution of the instructions causing a
plurality of steps to be performed including: storing a plurality of
reference documents in a memory device, including storing reference data
for each reference document of the plurality of reference documents,
wherein the reference data comprises data representing human-readable
content from an associated reference document of the plurality of
reference documents, wherein the human-readable content includes actual
content from the associated reference document of the plurality of
reference documents; receiving, at a data processing system from a mobile
device in communication with the data processing system, digital audio
data captured by the mobile device from audio voice signals identifying
actual content of a source document, wherein the digital audio data
comprises digital data converted from the audio voice signals; extracting
at least a portion of the digital audio data as scanning data; retrieving
the reference data for at least one reference document from the memory
device; comparing the scanning data with the retrieved reference data,
wherein comparing the scanning data with the retrieved reference data
includes comparing human-language content in the scanning data with
actual text content in the retrieved reference data of the at least one
reference document; if comparing the scanning data with the retrieved
reference data indicates at least the portion of the scanning data
matches at least a portion of the retrieved reference data, identifying
the at least one reference document of the plurality of reference
documents associated with the matched at least a portion of the retrieved
reference data as being the same document as the source document.

24. The data processing apparatus of claim 23, wherein the execution of
the instructions by the processor causes further steps to be performed,
namely: receiving address information identifying a receiving address for
a recipient; establishing a communications path between the data
processing system and a device associated with the recipient via the data
network, and sending, using the address information, at least a portion
of the one or more reference documents to the receiving address of the
recipient via the communications path.

25. The data processing system of claim 23, wherein sending at least a
portion of the identified document includes: sending at least a portion
of one or more reference documents to a receiving address of the
recipient via transmission over a data network coupling the handheld
device to the data processing system.

26. The data processing system of claim 23, further comprising sending
data representing at least a portion of the identified one or more
reference documents.

27. The data processing system of claim 26, wherein sending data
representing at least a portion of the identified document includes:
sending at least a portion of the identified document to a receiving
address via facsimile transmission.

28. The data processing apparatus of claim 26, wherein sending the
selected document includes: attaching the selected document to an e-mail
message, and sending the e-mail message to the receiving address via the
data network.

28. The data processing apparatus of claim 23, further wherein the
scanning data includes data identifying at least one of the author, title
and reference number of the source document.

29. A wireless personal device comprising: (i) an audio capturing
apparatus operable to receive as input audio signals; (ii) a transceiver
operating to receive and transmit a wireless data connection with a data
processing system coupled to a wireless data network, the transceiver
being operable to: establish a wireless communications path between the
wireless personal device and the data processing system coupled to the
wireless data network; and send a captured digital audio data from the
wireless personal device to the data processing system via the wireless
communications path; (iii) a memory in which a plurality of instructions
are stored; and (iv) a processor coupled to the memory and capable of
executing the instructions in the memory, wherein execution of the
instructions causes a plurality of steps to be performed including:
capturing digital audio data regarding a document utilizing the audio
capturing apparatus, wherein the digital audio data comprises audio data
representing audio signals identifying actual content from the document;
establishing a communications path between the wireless personal device
and a data processing system; sending the captured digital audio data
from the wireless personal device to the data processing system via the
communications path; and receiving, at the wireless personal device from
the data processing system, at least a portion of the actual content of
the document.

30. The wireless personal device of claim 29 wherein the step of
receiving includes receiving the entire document.

31. The wireless personal device of claim 29 further comprising receiving
at least a portion of a reference document as an alternative identified
document; and sending at least a portion of the alternative identified
document to the wireless personal device.

32. The wireless personal device of claim 31 further comprising:
receiving an indication from the wireless personal device indicating the
at least a portion of the alternative identified document as being
equivalent to the document.

33. The wireless personal device of claim 29 wherein the entire document
is sent to address data provided by the wireless personal device.

37. The wireless personal device of claim 29 wherein the wireless
personal device is a head-wearable device including a microphone
operating as the audio capturing apparatus, and an integrated heads-up
display, wherein the integrated heads-up display presents at least a
portion of the received actual content of the document.

38. The wireless personal device of claim 29 wherein the wireless
personal device is a wearable projector device including a microphone
operating as the audio capturing apparatus, and an integrated projector
that projects at least a portion of the received actual content of the
document.

39. The wireless personal device of claim 29 wherein the captured digital
audio data includes data identifying at least one of the author, title
and reference number of the source document.

40. A computer program product, comprising: a non-transitory computer
readable media; and program code on the computer readable media that when
executed by a data processing system, cause the data processing system to
perform: storing a plurality of reference documents in a memory device,
including storing reference data for each reference document of the
plurality of reference documents, wherein the reference data comprises
data representing human-readable content from an associated reference
document of the plurality of reference documents, wherein the
human-readable content includes actual content from the associated
reference document of the plurality of reference documents; receiving, at
a data processing system from a wireless personal device in communication
with the data processing system, digital audio data captured by the
wireless personal device from audio voice signals identifying actual
content of a source document, wherein the digital audio data comprises
digital data converted from the audio voice signals; extracting at least
a portion of the digital audio data as scanning data; retrieving the
reference data for at least one reference document from the memory
device; comparing the scanning data with the retrieved reference data,
wherein comparing the scanning data with the retrieved reference data
includes comparing human-language content in the scanning data with
actual text content in the retrieved reference data of the at least one
reference document; if comparing the scanning data with the retrieved
reference data indicates at least the portion of the scanning data
matches at least a portion of the retrieved reference data, identifying
the at least one reference document of the plurality of reference
documents associated with the matched at least a portion of the retrieved
reference data as being the same document as the source document.

41. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the scanning data
includes data identifying a name of the source document.

42. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the scanning data
includes data identifying an author of the source document.

43. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the scanning data
includes data identifying a publication date of the source document.

44. The computer program product of claim 40 further comprising:
identifying, when the scanning data matches at least a portion of the
reference data associated with a second reference document of the
plurality of reference documents, the second reference document as an
alternative identified document; and sending at least a portion of the
alternative identified document to the wireless personal device.

45. The computer program product of claim 44 further comprising:
receiving an indication from the wireless personal device indicating the
at least a portion of the at least one reference document or the at least
a portion of the second reference document as being equivalent to the
source document.

46. The computer program product of claim 40 further comprising sending
at least a portion of the at least one reference document to the wireless
personal device.

47. The computer program product of claim 46 wherein the sending
comprises: attaching the identified at least one reference document to an
e-mail message, and sending the e-mail message to a data processing
system.

48. The computer program product of claim 46 wherein the step of sending
includes sending the identified at least one reference document to a
receiving address.

49. The computer program product of claim 46 wherein the step of sending
includes sending an image of at least a portion of at least one reference
document.

51. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein at least one of the
steps of receiving, retrieving, comparing and identifying are performed
by a data processing system of a server connected to the wireless
personal device by a wireless network connection.

Description:

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 12/604,982, filed on Oct. 23, 2009, which is a
continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 7,856,474, issued on Dec. 21, 2010, which
is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 7,392,287 issued on Jun. 24, 2008, the
entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates generally to sharing information and,
more particularly, to identifying a document from information input to a
handheld device and forwarding the document to a designated recipient.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Sharing information from documents is generally a manual and
time-consuming process. When an individual reads a newspaper or magazine
article and wishes to share the article with someone, he must endure a
multi-stepped process fraught with frustration and potential for mistake.

[0004] A number of conventional means for sharing documents are available,
although none are particularly palatable. In the above example, to share
the newspaper or magazine article, the individual would have to choose
one of the following means: physically tear out or photocopy the article
and mail it, photocopy the article and fax it, read the article over the
phone, scan the article into a computer and send it electronically, or
visit the website for the newspaper or magazine, find the article, then
send the uniform resource locator ("URL") for the website to the desired
recipient.

[0005] The tasks above are needlessly time consuming and problematic. In
the time required to manipulate the physical document and arrange for
sending, the recipient could have already read the article and discussed
it with the sender, if only the recipient had received the article
sooner. Moreover, with all of the effort required on the part of the
sender to coordinate sending the document, there is a strong likelihood
the sender may lose interest altogether and not even attempt to send the
article.

SUMMARY

[0006] One aspect of the present invention relates to sending information
to a data processing apparatus for identification of a document having
the information. A handheld device having a memory is capable of
communicating with the data processing apparatus. Information is captured
from the document. The captured information is stored in the memory of
the handheld device as document data. A communications path is
established between the handheld device and the data processing
apparatus. The document data is retrieved from the memory of the handheld
device and sent to the data processing apparatus through the
communications path for identification of the document.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention relates to identifying the
document for sharing with a recipient, in the data processing apparatus.
Reference documents are provided. Each reference document has reference
data stored in a memory. The document data received from the handheld
device is associated with one of the reference documents. At least a
portion of the received document data is extracted as scanning data. The
reference data is retrieved from the memory. The scanning data is
compared with the reference data. When the scanning data matches at least
a portion of the reference data of one of the reference documents, the
one reference document is selected as the identified document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0008] The invention may be better understood with reference to the
following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily to
scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clear illustration of
principles.

[0009]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for identifying a
document and forwarding the document to a designated recipient,
constructed according to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method 200 for identifying a document
and forwarding the document to a designated recipient, performed in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data processing apparatus 300
constructed according to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for identifying a
document and forwarding the document to a designated recipient,
constructed according to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention. In FIG. 11, a user 105, also referred to herein as a sender,
locates a data source such as document 110. In some examples, the
document 110 is a physical document such as an article in a periodical
like a newspaper or magazine. In other examples, the document 110 is in
electronic form, such as a word processing document or HTML document
displayed on a handheld device or other data processing apparatus. Upon
reading the document 110, the user 105 realizes he has several associates
or desired recipients who, he believes, would also be interested in
reading the document 110.

[0014] In FIG. 1, each of the handheld devices 115 and 120 includes a
memory for storing data, such as a memory 310 described below with
reference to FIG. 3. The various handheld devices operated by user 105
are capable of communicating with a data processing apparatus such as a
server 125. A communications path can be established between the handheld
devices and the server 125 by conventional techniques, including cellular
and other wireless means.

[0015] In some exemplary embodiments, part or all of server 125 is
implemented as the data processing apparatus 300 described with reference
to FIG. 3. World Wide Web ("Web") servers may be readily incorporated.
The server 125 is coupled to and in communication with a data network 130
such as the Internet, using conventional techniques understood by those
skilled in the art. The server 125 is in communication with a storage
means 140 such as a database or other suitable repository. In one
example, server 125 is directly coupled to repository 140. In another
example, server 125 communicates with repository 140 via data network
130. Reference data is stored in storage means 140 for use by server 125,
as explained in greater detail below.

[0016] In FIG. 1, one example of data network 130 is the Internet. In
other examples, data network 130 is any network with sufficient bandwidth
to transmit data signals received from handheld devices such as mobile
phone 115 and PDA 120. Suitable networks include frame relay (FR)
networks, ATM networks, wide area networks (WAN), and local area networks
(LAN). Other suitable networks 130 include satellite transmission, radio
broadcasting, cable television broadcasting, direct line-of-site
transmission, telecom fiber optic transmission, cellular transmission,
and wireless transmission, as will be understood by the skilled artisan.

[0017] In FIG. 1, a recipient 135 is also capable of communicating with
data network 130 by conventional means. For example, recipient 135 may be
or include a data processing apparatus or computer system such as a
laptop computer, handheld device, cellular phone with data network
capabilities, and other devices capable of receiving data signals such as
e-mail messages from data network 130.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method 200 for identifying a document
and forwarding the document to a designated recipient, performed in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
2, the method begins with user 105 identifying document 110 in step 205.

[0019] In step 210, the user 105 captures information from the document
110. In some exemplary embodiments, the handheld device includes an input
device such as a microphone and is thus capable of receiving audio voice
signals. The user 105 can convey information by speaking into the
microphone. In an alternative embodiment, the microphone is physically
separated from the handheld device, yet coupled to the device so the
audio signals can easily pass to the device for storage in memory. In
another exemplary embodiment, the handheld device is provided with a
scanning mechanism. In one example, the scanning mechanism is provided as
a "plug-in" cartridge that interfaces with the handheld device, as with
the Handspring VISOR® PDA. The scanner can be coupled to the handheld
device by other means for scanning the information from the document and
conveying the information to the handheld device for storage.
Conventional scanners may be used, as will be understood by those skilled
in the art. Other conventional means for converting printed text from the
document to digital data may readily be used.

[0020] Various types of information can be captured from the document and
stored in the handheld device. Suitable information includes: title of
the document 110, author, publication name (e.g., name of newspaper or
magazine), and the date of publication for document 110. The captured
information can include one or more of these types of information and/or
other types of information.

[0021] When the information is captured by the scanner or scanning
mechanism, the scanned information is converted to digital data using
conventional techniques. Also, audio signals received by the microphone
are converted to digital data using a digital-to-audio ("D/A") converter
or other suitable means. The digital data is then stored in a memory
within the handheld device as captured information or document data.

[0022] In FIG. 2, the user also provides address information identifying a
receiving address for desired recipient 135 in step 215. In one example,
an e-mail address for the desired recipient is spoken into the microphone
of the handheld device using techniques described above. In another
example, the name of the recipient is spoken into the device for a later
table lookup operation performed by the server 125. In yet another
example, an e-mail address or mailing address is typed into the handheld
device by the user using a keypad incorporated for data entry. This
address information is stored in the memory of the handheld device.

[0023] In FIG. 2, after the document information is captured and the
address information received by the handheld device, a communications
path is established between the handheld device and the server 125. In
some exemplary embodiments, such communications are established via one
or more of the many types of data networks 130 described above. In step
220, the captured document information and the address information are
retrieved from the memory in the handheld device and sent to the server
125 via the established communications path. The server 125 then receives
the captured document information and the address information.

[0024] In step 225, the server 125 then extracts at least a portion of the
received document data as scanning data. This extraction may be performed
using conventional voice recognition programs to extract portions of
digital audio signals and convert these to text-based digital data.
Suitable voice recognition programs include Dragon NATURALLY
SPEAKING®, Lernout & Hauspie L&H VOICE XPRESS®, and Lernout &
Hauspie Power Translator Pro. In step 225, the server attempts to
identify the source document 110 using the captured information. To this
end, server 125 cross-references the extracted portion of the information
with reference data associated with a plurality of reference documents
stored in repository 140. That is, the data processing apparatus accesses
the reference data, and compares the scanning data with the reference
data. In an alternative embodiment, this cross-referencing operation is
performed by a human who uses the extracted portion of the information to
index physical documents to identify one or more documents having
information matching the extracted portion of information.

[0025] In step 230, the server 125 extracts the address data from the
information received from the handheld device. For digital address data
representing an e-mail address, phone number, or postal mailing address
spoken into the microphone, a conventional voice recognition program is
used to convert the voice-based address data to text-based digital data.
The server 125 then attempts to identify the recipient using the
text-based digital data. In some embodiments, when the address data is
spoken or typed exactly, the text-based address data is used directly as
the mailing address. In other embodiments, a table lookup operation is
performed by server 125 using the text-based address data by
cross-referencing a directory or listing of e-mail addresses associated
with real names. This listing is maintained in storage medium 140. In an
alternative embodiment, this table lookup operation is performed by a
human, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0026] Proceeding to step 240, when the server cannot identify one of the
referenced documents in step 225, or server 125 cannot identify recipient
135 from the address information 230, server 125 sends a signal to the
handheld device operated by the user, such as an e-mail message passed
via data network 130. This signal includes a message requesting further
information and/or clarification of the data already submitted. For
example, if the system identified two or more documents matching the
captured information, the message prompts the user to specify which of
the identified documents to send to recipient 135. Alternatively, the
user may be prompted to re-enter address information. The method then
returns to step 220, when the user sends-such information to the server.
In steps 225 and/or 230, the server again attempts to identify the
document and/or identify the recipient.

[0027] In FIG. 2, the loop represented by steps 220, 225, 230, and 240,
repeats as necessary until the proper information is gathered by server
125. In step 235, the identified document can then be sent to the person
identified in the identification information. Depending on the type of
address information input by the user 105, this sending can be performed
by attaching an electronic copy of the identified document to an e-mail
message and sending the message to a designated e-mail address of the
recipient, or sending an electronic copy of the document by facsimile
transmission to a designated phone number. Alternatively, a hard copy of
the document can be mailed to a residential mailing address for the
recipient.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data processing apparatus 300 that
can be incorporated as part of both the handheld device and/or the server
125 in FIG. 1. The data processing apparatus 300 includes a processor 305
for executing program instructions stored in a memory 310. In some
embodiments, processor 305 includes a single microprocessor, while in
others, processor 305 includes a plurality of microprocessors to define a
multi-processor system. The memory 310 stores instructions and data for
execution by processor 305, including instructions and data for
performing the methods described above. Depending upon the extent of
software implementation in data processing apparatus 300, the memory 310
stores executable code when in operation. The memory 310 includes, for
example, banks of read-only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory
(DRAM), as well as high-speed cache memory.

[0029] In FIG. 3, within data processing apparatus 300, an operating
system comprises program instruction sequences that provide a platform
for the methods described above. The operating system provides a software
platform upon which application programs may execute, in a maimer readily
understood by those skilled in the art. The data processing apparatus 300
further comprises one or more applications having program instruction
sequences for performing the methods described above.

[0030] In FIG. 3, the data processing apparatus 300 incorporates any
combination of additional devices. These include, but are not limited to,
a mass storage device 315, one or more peripheral devices 320, an audio
means 325, one or more input devices 330, one or more portable storage
medium drives 335, a graphics subsystem 340, a display 345, and one or
more output devices 350. The various components are connected via an
appropriate bus 355 as known by those skilled in the art. In alternative
embodiments, the components are connected through other communications
media known in the art. In one example, processor 305 and memory 310 are
connected via a local microprocessor bus; while mass storage device 315,
peripheral devices 320, portable storage medium drives 335, and graphics
subsystem 340 are connected via one or more input/output ("I/O") buses.

[0031] In FIG. 3, mass storage device 315 is implemented as fixed and/or
removable media, for example, as a magnetic, optical, or magneto-optical
disk drive. The drive is preferably a non-volatile storage device for
storing data and instructions for use by processor 305. In some
embodiments, mass storage device 315 stores client and server
information, code for carrying out methods in accordance with exemplary
embodiments of the invention, and computer instructions for processor
305. In other embodiments, computer instructions for performing methods
in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the invention also are stored
in processor 305. The computer instructions are programmed in a suitable
language such as Java or C++.

[0032] In FIG. 3, the portable storage medium drive 335, in some
embodiments, operates in conjunction with a portable non-volatile storage
medium, such as a floppy disk, CD-ROM, or other computer-readable medium,
to input and output data and code to and from the data processing
apparatus 300. In some embodiments, methods performed in accordance with
exemplary embodiments of the invention are implemented using computer
instructions that are stored on such a portable medium and input to the
data processing apparatus 300 via portable storage medium drive 335.

[0033] In FIG. 3, the peripheral devices 320 include any type of computer
support device, such as an I/O interface, to add functionality to data
processing apparatus 300. In one example, the peripheral devices include
a network interface card for interfacing the data processing apparatus
300 to a network, a modem, and the like. The peripheral devices also
include input devices to provide a portion of a user interface and may
include an alphanumeric keypad or a pointing device such as a mouse, a
trackball, a stylus, or cursor direction keys. The I/O interface
comprises conventional circuitry for controlling input devices and
performing particular signal conversions upon I/O data. The I/O interface
may include, for example, a keyboard controller, a serial port
controller, and/or digital signal processing circuitry.

[0034] In FIG. 3, the graphics subsystem 340 and the display 345 provide
output alternatives of the system. The graphics subsystem 340 and display
345 include conventional circuitry for operating upon and outputting data
to be displayed, where such circuitry preferably includes a graphics
processor, a frame buffer, and display driving circuitry. The display 345
may include a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, a liquid crystal display
(LCD), or other suitable devices. The display 345 preferably can display
at least 256 colors. The graphics subsystem 340 receives textual and
graphical information and processes the information for output to the
display 345. A video card in the data processing apparatus 300 also
comprises a part of graphics subsystem 340 and also preferably supports
at least 256 colors. For optimal results in viewing digital images, the
user should use a video card and monitor that can display the True Color
(24 bit color) setting. This setting enables the user to view digital
images with photographic image quality.

[0035] In FIG. 3, audio means 325 preferably includes a sound card,
on-board sound processing hardware, or a device with built-in processing
devices that attach via Universal Serial Bus (USB) or IEEE 1394
(Firewire). The audio means 325 receives audio signals from a peripheral
microphone. In addition, audio means 325 may include a processor for
processing sound. The signals can be processed by the processor in audio
means 325 of data processing apparatus 300 and passed to other devices
as, for example, streaming audio signals.

[0036] In some embodiments, programs for performing methods in accordance
with exemplary embodiments of the invention are embodied as computer
program products. These generally include a storage medium or media
having instructions stored thereon used to program a computer to perform
the methods described above. Examples of suitable storage medium or media
include any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, DVDs, CD
ROMs, magnetic optical disks, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical
cards, hard disk, flash card, smart card, and other media.

[0037] Stored on one or more of the computer readable media, the program
includes software for controlling both the hardware of a general purpose
or specialized computer or microprocessor. This software also enables the
computer or microprocessor to interact with a human or other
mechanism-utilizing the results of exemplary embodiments of the
invention. Such software includes, but is not limited to, device drivers,
operating systems and user applications. Preferably, such computer
readable media further include software for performing the methods
described above.

[0038] In certain other embodiments, a program for performing an exemplary
method of the invention or an aspect thereof is situated on a carrier
wave such as an electronic signal transferred over a data network.
Suitable networks include the internet, a frame relay network, an ATM
network, a wide area network (WAN), or a local area network (LAN). Those
skilled in the art will recognize that merely transferring the program
over the network, rather than executing the program on a computer system
or other device, does not avoid the scope of the invention.

[0039] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the
invention are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a
clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Variations and
modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the
invention without departing from the spirit and principles of the
invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be
included herein within the scope of the invention and protected by the
following claims.